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Nicky Hopkins

Even if you’re not into comedy albums, Cheech & Chong’s Greatest Hit compilation should be considered for your collection. For one, it can be found in any format for cheap. And that justifies buying it for their classic song “Earache My Eye”. Classic song? It’s been covered and homaged by bands such as Soundgarden, Korn, and even Rush. So listen up!

Cheech & Chong’s original “Earache My Eye” is heavy metal and horns gone wild. Cheech sings as his persona “Alice Bowie”. The song was featured in the group’s first movie, Up In Smoke. There is also a lesser song on the album called “Basketball Jones”, but it too is noteworthy because there’s a Beatle on it: George Harrison! And a slew of others including Billy Preston, Carole King and Nicky Hopkins.

Everyone in the world should know Cheech & Chong’s comedy sketch “Dave”. If you don’t, shame on you and go hear it immediately. “Dave” is here in edited form so you’ll get the gist. Other popular bits include “Sister Mary Elephant” (remember the teacher screaming “SHUUUT UPPP!” to the rowdy classroom?) and “Sargent Stadanko”. Most sketches focus on (gasp) drugs! “Let’s Make a Drug Deal” is a spoof of a popular TV show. “Cruising With Pedro De Pacas” is a paranoid drive with a Latino stoner. Pedro and his sidekick Man take up most of side two.

Listening to this is a real throwback. Sneaking people into a drive-in movie back when a drive-in movie was just 50 cents per person! It’s good stuff but it may only appeal to people who remember those times. Cheech & Chong’s laid back style of comedy makes this album (almost 55 minutes long) difficult to finish in one sitting. Take a break between sides if it’s too slow for you.

The most important life lesson contained within is don’t try to sneak friends into a drive-in movie in the trunk of your car. Especially if you’re with two guys named Pedro and Man.

It would be lazy for me to compare this album to contemporaries of the band. It would also be lazy to use the old outdated “psychedelic” adjective to describe this music. I can think of numerous other adjectives: challenging, rewarding, inventive, chaotic, grimy, majestic.

Andrew Loog Oldham had quit his post as the band’s producer and manager, leaving the Stones to their own devices. It sounds as if they explored every possible indulgence (musically and otherwise).

Their Satanic Majesties Request takes some of the musical expeditions that The Rolling Stones had completed on Between The Buttons (think “Ruby Tuesday”), and turns that on its head. Mix in ample supplies of chemicals and a total fearlessness, and a belief that what they were doing was total brilliance, and what you get is Their Satanic Majesties Request. This album surely must have convinced parents that Satan himself was possessing the hi-fi.

Light on guitar, rhythm and blues, Their Satanic Majesties Request is still among the best Stones albums if you can penetrate its purple smokey haze. Doing so will reveal an album constructed in layers, and peeling back these layers will release melodies and instrumentation that will keep you enthralled for years, as you keep coming back to this album. Is that Mick asking, “Where’s that joint?”

I’m fond of the opening track, “Sing This All Together”, which sounds (at times) like a cross between the Beatles and a James Bond theme. I’m sure some fans were wondering, “Where’s the guitars?” They’re on there, used sparingly but effectively. “Citadel” has guitars; grimy, dirty guitars, chugging out distorted chords under Mick’s dreamy melodies. This one reminds me of early Alice Cooper, who I am sure was influenced by this album.

Bill Wyman sings lead on “In Another Land”, the watery vocal track sounding like it was recorded in another land. “2000 Man” is as catchy as anything else the Stones produced, with neat lyrics that must have seemed so forward-thinking in 1967. I love the guitar melody, and how it sounds like a completely different song on the choruses. “She’s A Rainbow” is a perfect pop song, as brilliant as “Ruby Tuesday” if not moreso due to Charlie Watts’ relentlessness. Meanwhile, “The Lantern” happily meanders along, amidst what sounds like out-of-tune guitars and horns. Likewise “Gomper” wanders about, loads of sitar invading the eardrums, and lots of other stuff I can barely identify.

“2000 Light Years From Home” is a good one, loaded with Brian’s mellotron, again sounding perpetually out of tune. Fortunately Charlie keeps the song moving forward, his timing always perfect. Then, “On With the Show” brings us back in time to a simpler age, Mick affecting an accent for this fun retro piece.

While every song has melodies and instrumentation coming out the wazoo, it surely is “Sing This All Together (See What Happens)” (not to be confused with “Sing This All Together”) that is the centrepiece of this bizarre journey into the unknown. 8 1/2 minutes long, and never really going anywhere, some might consider this a waste of vinyl. On the other hand, those that have studied free improvisation will get inspiration out of this bizarre arrangement.

Brian Jones continued to experiment with multiple instruments including sitar (hey, it was the 60’s). Guests include Lennon and McCartney, Steve Marriot and Ronnie Lane, Nicky Hopkins, and future Led Zeppelin bassist / keyboardist / string arranger John Paul Jones.

The original LP featured a lenticular cover gimmick, as well as a maze inside that can never be solved. How quaint!

Next time somebody comes up to you and says, “Yeah, this new band that I like, they sound really Stones-y,” then respond by playing “Sing This All Together (See What Happens)” and ask if this is what they meant. Watch the looks on their faces.

In the end, the Stones decided to return to their blues rock sound on Beggars Banquet, which was probably the best way to continue to have a viable career.